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PSSI rejects task force recommendation, chief refuses to resign
A spokesman for Iriawan said on Thursday that the task force recommendation was non-binding and that PSSI had no obligation to comply.
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Elected PSSI chairperson Mochamad Iriawan (center) accompanied by two elected deputy chairmen Cucu Soemantri (left) and Iwan Budianto during the closing of the PSSI Extraordinary Congress (KLB) in Jakarta, on Nov. 2, 2019. (JP/Dhoni Setiawan)
T
he Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) has rejected the recommendation of a government-sanctioned task force investigating the Kanjuruhan stadium stampede with its chief executive Mochamad Iriawan refusing to step down from his position.
A spokesman for Iriawan said on Thursday that the task force recommendation was non-binding and that PSSI had no obligation to comply.
"It's just a recommendation. You know what recommendation is, right? Recommendation is a proposal, but a decision should be based on a regulation," the spokesperson Ahmad Riyadh told reporters in Surabaya, East Java, as quoted by kompas.com.
Riyadh also rebuffed the call for PSSI to hold an extraordinary congress to elect a new leadership for the football organization.
"[The decision to hold] an extraordinary congress should be decided by PSSI members. If this is a request from members according to existing statute then we can hold the congress," he said.
The task force investigating the Kanjuruhan stadium tragedy that killed 132 people in Malang, East Java, has called on the PSSI chief to resign.
"Technically, the government cannot intervene in PSSI, but in a country based on morals, ethics and great culture, it is recommended the PSSI head and all the executive committee members resign as the form of responsibility," the report, handed to President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo last week, said.
The 124-page report was released after Coordinating Minister for Political, Security and Legal Affairs Minister Mahfud MD held a press conference saying PSSI should take responsibility for the disaster.
On Wednesday, photos of FIFA's president Gianni Infantino laughing and high-fiving in a football match with under-fire Iriawan only weeks after the Kanjuruhan stadium sparked online fury in the country.
It was PSSI which posted the images on its Twitter account.
"Instead of playing soccer together, it's better to go to the homes of the victims of the Kanjuruhan tragedy together. They are more important," Indonesian actor Vino G. Bastian tweeted to his 1.9 million followers, gaining just under 20,000 likes.
"133 people have died. And, your president came here to play fun football and laugh? Why don't you just play fun football at Kanjuruhan? Shame on you, @FIFAcom," popular Indonesian football account PanditFootball tweeted to its 600,000 followers, in a post retweeted more than 4,000 times.
The initial tweet by the PSSI, whose posts rarely get replies in more than double figures, was deluged with more than 4,000 replies, which were overwhelmingly negative.
